Spotify’s In-Car Music Player Reportedly Launching Later This Year

Spotify has been rumored to be working on its first hardware for a while, and that device could be coming out sometime soon. According to a new report from The Financial Times, the company’s upcoming in-car music player will launch later this year.

The new in-car music player will allow users to directly play Spotify on their car without having to connect to an external device like their phone. It will also allow them to use their voice to control playback, which could allow for much safer driving.

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The device is reportedly going to be priced around $100, which seems like a fair price. But Spotify might launch a new subscription plan that costs $12.99 a month for a 12-month contract that will give users access to Spotify Premium and the new in-car player for free, reports The Verge. The device includes physical buttons that let you control playback, but the main input is voice commands.

Spotify has recently introduced a new Car View mode for Android users that allows for easier music playback control when you are driving. The new in-car player could turn out to be a huge success for the company if marketed properly, and people who don’t have high-end cars that come with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto could find this incredibly useful. I mean, having to connect via Bluetooth everytime you get in your car, or even putting the AUX cable in is kind of annoying, so having something that’s always a voice command or a click away is actually very clever on Spotify’s part.

I really hope this is not a United States-only product, though.

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Conversation 25 comments

  • Bats

    18 January, 2019 - 4:08 pm

    <p>What exactly is "marketed properly?"</p>

    • Patrick Yore

      19 January, 2019 - 4:51 am

      <blockquote><a href="#397898"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a><em> for a start don't do it like Microsoft or its doomed ro fail…lol</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

      • SvenJ

        19 January, 2019 - 1:55 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#398036"><em>In reply to pyore:</em></a><em> </em>I was going to say, Like Apple, not like MS</blockquote><p><br></p>

    • Daekar

      19 January, 2019 - 7:30 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#397898">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p>Make it sound like it had benefits that are somehow unique and special when they're not actually unique and special. </p>

  • jrjr

    18 January, 2019 - 4:19 pm

    <p>2017 numbers: North America – 32% of active Spotify users; RoW – 68% of active users (37% in Europe). US-only does not sound like a good business decision.</p>

  • CompUser

    18 January, 2019 - 5:53 pm

    <p>"… people who don’t have high-end cars that come with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto could find this incredibly useful …"</p><p><br></p><p>You'd have to have a pretty old car to not have Bluetooth, or at least a USB port, so you could play your music through your car sound system from your cell phone. (My and my son's 11-year-old cars, and my wife's 15-year-old car, all have both.) And your cell phone probably already has either Google Play Music or Apple's equivalent to that. What advantage would there be to having this?</p>

    • pcdoeswhat

      18 January, 2019 - 9:19 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#397932">In reply to CompUser:</a></em></blockquote><p>My 16 year old car and my wife’s 12 year old car have no aux, no USB, no Bluetooth. But I do have a tape deck…</p>

  • jbinaz

    18 January, 2019 - 7:24 pm

    <p>Because connecting your phone is so difficult? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know if having it built-in is a big enough draw. I could very well be too old and out of touch.</p>

  • stace3

    18 January, 2019 - 9:14 pm

    <p>Curious little device. I recently installed a Pioneer MVH-2400NEX with incredible Bluetooth Spotify integration, so I can see how it might work. I just don't know why I wouldn't upgrade the entire system versus buying this device. </p>

  • SvenJ

    18 January, 2019 - 9:29 pm

    <p>Not clear, but does this include a cell data service with the subscription, sort of like some Kindles/Nooks? If it is just piggy-backing off your phone's data plan, what's the difference than just running Spotify on the phone, and connecting via BT/audio in, other than $100 up front and $150 a year.</p>

  • BigM72

    19 January, 2019 - 3:46 am

    <p>My car has neither bluetooth nor audio-in cable so this would be welcome</p>

    • Vladimir Carli

      Premium Member
      19 January, 2019 - 10:10 am

      <blockquote><a href="#398020"><em>In reply to BigM72:</em></a></blockquote><p> </p><p>If you don't have neither bluetooth neither line in how do you expect this device to connect to the car audio system? I really wonder what is the use case for this device. It just seems a device to control spotify with a hardware control, without having to interact with the screen of your phone, which is dangerous.</p><p>V.</p>

  • Daekar

    19 January, 2019 - 7:27 am

    <p>So… How is having my phone automatically connect to my car's Bluetooth a hardship, exactly? It requires me to do literally nothing and it just works. I don't have Android Auto, and my music experience is wonderful… Voice commands work and everything, no problem. What is this supposed to solve that a Bluetooth connection wouldn't? </p>

    • chiwax

      19 January, 2019 - 10:06 am

      <blockquote><a href="#398057"><em>In reply to Daekar:</em></a><em> </em>Exactly! Listening to music in the house with total control and moving to my vehicle and not skipping a beat is cool. Not sure where the "annoying" part of it begins. Maybe I'm just missing the "annoying" part of the experience. Or maybe I don't need anything new because my current experience is as good as it really gets! </blockquote><p><br></p>

    • Skolvikings

      21 January, 2019 - 8:48 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#398057">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p>I agree that my phone automatically connects via Bluetooth to my car. However, because I do not have CarPlay, I have to launch the Spotify app on my iPhone, pick the music I want to listen to, and then click play. Once that's all going, I can then use the car's controls to go to the next song, etc., but picking a new playlist or album is difficult because I'm driving, and doing so requires me to fuddle with the Spotify app on my iPhone.</p><p><br></p><p>Assuming it works well, I'd buy this device in a heartbeat if it made it easier for me to use Spotify while driving.</p>

  • Dryloch

    19 January, 2019 - 10:09 am

    <p>This reminds me of the Instagram Glasses fiasco. A solution in search of a problem. I admit some can use this, but not enough to be a viable product. If more people knew about Google Music coming with ad free Youtube I think Spotify would be in trouble. One of my channels said that they get 4 times the revenue from ad free customers as well. Google gives part of my monthly fee to the channels I watch.</p>

  • thisisdonovan

    21 January, 2019 - 3:26 am

    <p>Aren't spotify Swedish?</p><p>I can't imagine why they'd make a US only product.</p>

  • mattbg

    Premium Member
    21 January, 2019 - 7:17 am

    <p>I wonder how much of this is due to their main competitors both being gatekeepers to what happens on the phone?</p><p><br></p><p>I can see how some people may like this – GPS and music with their own context, buttons, lack of distraction, etc – but I wonder if enough will to make it worth it.</p><p><br></p><p>If it somehow includes wireless data without needing to be tethered then that makes it a bit more interesting for a variety of audiences.</p>

  • EraseYourself

    21 January, 2019 - 1:35 pm

    <p>Bluetooth just connects when the car is turned on. How is that difficult? You may have to hit a button to get the source.</p>

  • theduke

    21 January, 2019 - 1:46 pm

    <p>I don't get this product. Anyone with any car for about mid 2000 onwards has access to (free) Spotify in their car. Android auto / car play /mirror link /Bluetooth or even a simple aux cable. All work. </p><p><br></p><p>My girl just put in a sub £10 head unit (from alibaba express) in to her old £100 2005 40kmiles ford KA as that didn't have an aux in. A literal 5 min job, for someone with zero technical skill. It's one of tho unitd with no cd player, just fm/dab radio, aux in and BT also had a USB in also. All for sub £10 delivers. Is not great but it does the job. </p><p><br></p><p>Why would anyone buy a spotify unit for this. Everyone has a Spotify unit, it's called a phone and holder. Everyone has one. Everyone. </p>

  • Lauren Glenn

    21 January, 2019 - 2:44 pm

    <p>Sure… Take it on a road trip after you get it and drive about 50 miles outside a major city. Let me know how that works then. I drove cross country many times and I learned to always keep an offline player handy because you always hit spots of no coverage</p>

    • theduke

      21 January, 2019 - 3:03 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#398483">In reply to alissa914:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think that's a US issue, being so large and relative sparce in population. I'm in the uk and we have about 98% coverage. Also i drive across Europe each summer (about 5k miles round trip) and never get a drop out. Or not one I've ever noticed </p><p><br></p><p>Andorra is the only place I've failed to get a signal, but only cos my UK carrier isn't supported there as its classed as roaming because its outside the EU. Within the EU there is no roaming fees between member states. So your normal home tarrif is the same across all 28 countries. </p><p><br></p><p>I may need a different EU sim come the summer this year. But still there is coverage. </p><p><br></p><p>Back to America, it must be better now that you seem to only have one phone signal type, or nearly have. It must of been crap when going form one area to the next and your phone wouldn't even connect if you wanted it to. That always seemed bizarre to me.</p><p><br></p><p> Though not being guaranteed coverage is still bizzarre to me. But it's understandable given your size. I'd imagine australia, Russia and china is similar. </p>

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